with my head on the ledge, that's what you get out on the edge.
Dean is not having a good day. In addition to dealing with some of the stupidest customers the Luna Bar has ever seen, he woke up this morning to find himself surrounded with a small entourage of paper cranes. They're multi-colored and terribly crafted, and despite Dean's numerous attempts, they won't go away. He's done everything short of taking a
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She smiles wide, and she... has no idea what the bunny is trying to convey. Elizabeth fails at reading cues around human beings, and it's especially hard with an animal... that should not be able to convey anything without words.
"Oh, right. You're a bunny. You can't answer my question. Um." Elizabeth presses her lips together thoughtfully. She puts two fingers up, one on either side of her face as she demonstrates the following. "Wag one ear for yes... and the other ear for no. Wait, can bunnies even wag their ears? I think that might be a... I don't even think dogs can. Hmm."
That is some seriously sad scritching, and it affects Elizabeth deeply. Like all sad animal and people eyes do. "Aww, it's okay, bunny. I'll..." She looks down the hallway thoughtfully. Where the heck is she supposed to take this possibly shape shifter bunny? And she doesn't even realize that when shapeshifters shift... they lack clothing.
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If Anya were not a bunny, she would consider being called adorable a compliment. And if she were more herself, she would question Elizabeth's sanity in calling such a terrifying creature cute.
Still, she's grateful that Elizabeth hasn't run off in fright, because this means that she'll maybe get somewhere a little less public before she shifts back. Anya isn't terribly modest as far as these things go, but even she has limits. And she likes her clothes. They're good clothes. She just can't find them again, because the bunny wants to hop.
And it does hop a few times. It also demonstrates that while bunnies can't exactly wag their ears, they can twitch them impressively.
No, this really isn't helping anyone.
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Elizabeth probably thinks Anya is adorable even when she isn't a bunny. Maybe. There is a lot of possibly maybe going on here, but... this is what happens when bunnies and clueless teenagers are in the mix.
She blinks at the ear twitching.
"Okay. I'm guessing because bunnies would not be able to understand me... they wouldn't know to twitch their ears a lot so you have to be a shapeshifter! Unless.. .you're a really twitchy bunny." Elizabeth frowns. Conundrum. Well, she might as well... assume this is a shapeshifter and take... her to a room, and poke her... and... see what happens.
Right? Sure.
"Do you want to come with me, Bunny? We'll... go some place and then I'll get you carrots or you'll shift back if you're... a shifter." And she's going to attempt to grab the tiny, fluffy bunny. This is the time that her angel speed really, really helps.
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Luckily for Elizabeth, Anya is attuned enough to the conversation to make sure the bunny part of her doesn't get too frightened and scamper off. Bunny eyes are not good for conveying yes, please, that sounds good, but Anya tries with all her might, anyway. The bunny does twitch a little at the human contact, but she's more frustrated with the fact that the ears perk up at the mention of carrots. No carrots for you, bunny!
The bunny is going to further infuriate Anya by trying to burrow up in Elizabeth's arms like the tiny, frightened thing that it is. Sorry about that, Elizabeth!
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It's okay! Elizabeth doesn't mind burrowing. She is going to pet the fluffy bunny and hopes that... makes her less frightened. Elizabeth wonders if Josef would let her keep the bunny. She has no idea how Josef could say no to such an adorable face with whiskers and fur and floppity ears. But Josef is special.
She's going to take the bunny to the smaller cafeteria. The one that most people don't use as it has a smaller selection. Thankfully, no one is here. She walks back to the kitchen.
"I'm going to let you down now so I can get you some carrots... or so you could shift back whichever you want to do." Elizabeth sets Anna on the floor... gently... and searches for some carrots.
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Moving along...
The bunny's ears perk up again, against Anya's will, at the mention of carrots. Tasty, tasty, eye sight-improving carrots. Anya is not entirely happy with the situation, since she's still out in public, even if it is a secluded public.
She just has to refrain from shifting until bunny-her somehow manages to communicate the immediate necessity of clothing.
She just has to hold off for a little while, hopefully.
Of course, law of Chicago states that as soon as Anya thinks this, she shifts. And shift she does, going from bunny sized to Anya-sized in a short but painful process - mostly painful because in the process, she bumps her head on the bottom of the table.
When Elizabeth comes back, she is going to find not a bunny but a curled up, very naked woman underneath the table. Now you get to learn about shape shifters needing clothes, Elizabeth! How exciting.
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Elizabeth finds carrots. She finds carrots, and she finds orange soda for herself. There is a lot of orange going on in her hands, and she's in the middle of sipping her drink when she hears the bump.
She runs back to the table, squeaks at the sight that awaits her... and drops the carrots and the drink on the floor.
"You're-- There's-- You're naked," she says. "Are you my bunny? I mean, the bunny from... ? You have to be, cause like a naked person wouldn't just appear where a bunny is for no reason, right?"
Wait, this woman is naked. There is more important things to do here than to ramble in her nervousness and awkwardness, and she starts to take off her shirt.
"Here. You can wear this until we get you to--" It's not until she has the shirt off in her hands, and she's hit with the cold air that the fault of this plan hits hers. The blush that appeared on her face when there was a sudden naked person under the table... deepens. "...now I'm naked."
Elizabeth is not naked. She is wearing a bra, and she's now at a complete loss as to what to do as she managed to go through this entire tag in about thirty seconds.
"...hi."
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Although that's certainly a contributing factor to her discomfort. She's cold, and very not-comfortable. And the orange soda Elizabeth spilled is creeping precariously toward her bare feet.
Anya can't see very much from her position under the table, mostly just from Elizabeth's feet to her waist, but she does she the suddenly bare strip of skin. Luckily for Elizabeth, it doesn't occur to Anya to laugh. Because the narration is doing all of that for her.
"Hello," Anya says. Then logically, not unkindly, "I'm not certain how both of us being naked is going to help matters here."
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She mistakes the shame for the nakedness.
Elizabeth smiles, and she slips her hand into her hair as she tries to think. It's not all that easy to do with air hitting her bare skin in a public place like this, and she-- She should really put her shirt back on.
"Um, yeah. I didn't really think about that before I took my shirt off. I kinda just peeled, and then I realized... that without a shirt on, I would not... have a shirt on." Elizabeth blushes deeper. "I thought we could like half cover you up and get you to... your room! Oh! Maybe we can use kitchen utensils! Like pots... for the especially naked like parts and stuff."
The especially naked parts would be the boobs and the crotch region. What makes them more naked than other body parts is a complete mystery to the narration.
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"Again," she says slowly, not critically but still baffled, "I'm not certain that that would help."
She tilts her head. "Perhaps you could run and get me some clothes from somewhere?" She's already naked, in public. A few more minutes probably won't kill her.
Of course, the most logical thing to do would be for Anya to turn back into a bunny until she gets somewhere with clothing, but turning into a bunny, of all things, is such a horrifying experience to Anya that the notion doesn't even occur to her.
"You can put your shirt back on," Anya adds, with a composure that, the narration would like to add, probably no other suddenly-naked person would have.
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She slides her shirt back on when Anya tells her to. It was a good idea, and she's wondering why she didn't think of that herself. No matter! Her shirt is on. She is wearing clothes.
"Okay. I will... go get you something. I'll be back," she says, anchoring her angel wings a bit to give her more speed and then shooting out the door.
If anyone sees her, they will think that there's a fire... or an emergency of some kind. In Elizabeth's eyes, nakedness is an emergency, and she finds clothes for Anya and returns at record speed.
She holds the clothes under the table and keeps her gaze pointed in the opposite direction out of respect, even though she has already seen the entire naked package that is Anya. It seems best to be respectful now that she has her senses about her. Also, she might lose those senses if she looks at the naked woman again.
"They might not fit all that well, but they should work. I hope."
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The shirt is a little big on her, but any clothes at all are better than being a) naked or b) a bunny, so Anya has few complaints. "These will do for a minute," Anya says once she's finished inspecting herself. "You can look now." Not that Anya entirely understands Elizabeth's turning away. Presumably, she has the same parts Anya does.
Then she looks up at Elizabeth, meeting her gaze now that she is no longer a bunny or hidden beneath a table. "Thank you," she says. "I'm very sorry you had to see me like that."
She means as a bunny, Elizabeth. Not, you know, completely naked. "This shapeshifting business has been a rather trying experience." She holds out her hand then, even though it perhaps seems a little silly to make formal introductions when Elizabeth has already helped her so extensively. "I'm Anya."
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"You're welcome," she says with a small smile as she starts to relax again. No nakedness! "I'm happy to help and not leave you like naked somewhere, cause that wouldn't have been fun for you. And you look fine naked... I mean I'm sure you look good. I don't really know what-- How-- I'm just not good around naked people."
This is putting it lightly. Yes, she misunderstood what Anya was apologizing for.
"You are cute as a bunny. If you weren't a shapeshifter, I would have taken you home and I don't think my roommate wants a pet."
That is putting it lightly. Plus, neither of them are around enough to feed and take care of a pet so as much as she might like one, she knows better.
"I'm Elizabeth!" Her smile brightens, and she... takes the hand in her own, giving it a shake. "It's really nice to meet you, Anya."
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But probably without suggesting they use pans to cover said parts up. Anya has a feeling this is limited to Elizabeth.
Her face scrunches up when Elizabeth says she makes a cute bunny. This is not something she'd like to hear, ever. "I can't imagine why anyone would want a bunny for a pet," she says. Her voice raises a little, against her will. "They're terrible creatures." She gives a shiver. "Those twitchy noses and beady eyes..." She gives Elizabeth a steady look. "They're up to something, all right."
Oh, Anya, you are such a special snowflake.
Anya shakes her hand firmly, then releases it. "You as well," she says. "So, you're an angel?" she asks. The only other angel she's met is Wes, and she still finds the existence of angels in this world rather interesting.
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She is also one of those people that tends to believe that everyone knows more about almost everything than she does. When Anya says this about bunnies, she actually thinks she knows something that Elizabeth does not. It's not like she has ever had any experience with the animals before.
"Really? I had no idea that-- I mean, you're the first bunny that I'd ever seen. Like in person, obviously. What do you think they're up to? I mean, they're bunnies with the paws and the fluffy tails. Can they even do anything if they're up to it?"
That sentence made more sense in her head.
Elizabeth smiles brighter and nods at the question, gesturing to the wings which are still out. "Yep, I'm an angel. I don't usually have my wings out but I kinda felt like it today. I'm an angel, and you're a wanderer. A wanderer that shape shifts. ...have you been here long?"
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Anya is pleased, if admittedly surprised, when Elizabeth takes her statement about bunnies to heart. Most people laugh, or at least look at her like she's missing a very important part of her brain. Anya's brain is all in working order, thank you.
"I don't know," she admits. "I tended to - avoid them, really. Before all this."
Which means Anya scheduled vengeance far, far away from Easter-celebrating regions during the springtime. Those children's tales about a giant bunny sneaking into houses at night, honest. Between that and Santa Claus, Anya isn't sure how anyone had time to be afraid of things like her.
"They're nice," Anya says. "I've met an angel here before, but he didn't have his wings out." She shakes her head. "Just a few months," she says. "Which I understand isn't very long in comparison to some."
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